Hard Rock (A Hardboiled Private Investigator Mystery Series): John Rockne Mysteries 2 by Dani Amore Read Free Book Online Page B

Jefferson Ave.  I followed Jefferson until it curved down to the lake’s edge and became Lake Shore Drive.  I sort of knew where I was going but took my time getting there.  Night was falling but there was enough light to give the surface of the lake a silver sheen, with the far edge of Canada framing the image like a bordered canvas.
    I followed the water’s edge for nearly a mile before I turned off onto a street I knew all too well.  The homes here were substantial, nearly all of them with circular driveways that featured a BMW, Porsche or Mercedes-Benz.  A lot of fans of the German auto industry here, which was funny because more than a few Detroit auto executives lived in this area.
    It didn’t take long before I found a place to park near the exact place where I’d handed Benjamin Collins over to his killer.  I parked the Taurus, rolled down the windows and sat.
    I wondered again about the location.  For the thousandth time I wondered the same thing.
    Why here?  
    Why had the call come in from here?  Why had Benjamin been running around in the cold? Why had the contract killer been here ?
    A quick look around the houses showed me nothing I hadn’t already known.  Big estates, most of them five or six-plus bedrooms with probably the same amount of bathrooms.  Three-car garages usually tucked discretely around the back.  Wide, perfectly landscaped lawns.
    It wasn’t unheard of to see a vintage American car in some of the driveways.  Sixties-era Corvettes for example, seemed to be a hit with this crowd.
    Still, it had always bothered me.  In general, homicide in Grosse Pointe was very rare.  But this particular location had always seemed so unlikely to me.  And now that I figured the murder had been a hit, it seemed even more bizarre.
    There was really no point in coming here.  I still did it occasionally when I was struggling with my past.  But honestly, I wasn’t looking for fresh insights. I’d already been over this area so many times I practically could navigate it in my sleep.
    Lots of doctors and lawyers and auto executives here.   Even some players from the Detroit Lions, supposedly.
    Something niggled at my brain.  The Detroit Lions.  Where I had just heard something about them?
    I wasn’t really much of a football fan-
    Tripp Collins.
    I suddenly sat up straighter.
    Tripp Collins.  What was it he’d said?
    I searched my memory. 
    A scroll through our conversation led me to the moment when he was talking about his clients.
    It finally came to me.  He’d rattled off some of his types of clients.  Mining magnates, auto czars and NFL players .
    Was it possible that one of Tripp Collins’ clients had a place here?
    And if so, what did it mean?  Was it just a huge coincidence? A young man is murdered in the same neighborhood where one of his uncle’s clients lived? 
    When I put it into words in mind, it seemed like no big deal.  Grosse Pointe was a small community.  People lived side-by-side with their doctors, their attorneys, their teachers.
    Then again, it could mean something.
    That was enough for me.  I put the Taurus in gear and dug out my cell phone.
    The call went straight to voicemail. Tripp Collins must have either turned his phone off or he was on the line.  Another possibility was that he’d seen my number and chosen to ignore it. That was okay. I had a pretty good backup plan.
    The husband of one of Anna’s friends worked for the Lions and he was a helpful kind of guy.  And he owed me a favor because I’d helped him unload about three tons of landscaping stones while our wives supervised with margaritas in their hands.
    So point one, he owed me a favor.
    And point two, I had his cell phone number.
    I called and left a message asking if he could look up home addresses and tell me if any players had homes in the area I’d just visited. 
    A geography note here:  Grosse Pointe is divided into four sections.  Starting at the southernmost end and going north